Shadow Team
by ClarencetheSpyCat
Summary: Wacky (or not so wacky) misadventures of a Spartan III Team, an inexperienced Fleetmaster and his illegal friend and unwilling accomplice, one rampant AI, a skeptical Lifeworker and his last tie to his world, a slightly insane Monitor. (no plot, you have been warned)
1. The Forerunner & Monitor

Author's Notes: First prologue of my new Halo story, which is just dubbed Shadow Team now. I might come up with a clever name later (or not, I'm lazy). Anyway, this is about Bright Star Hidden and his prologue. Basically he's a weird Forerunner (he _smiles_, Precursors forbid) and he gets his family banned from a Builder planet because the Builders think little of a reject Forerunner. His father ships him off to a Halo on the pretense of punishment.  
S'anga IV is past timey Sangheilios (is there a ring in Sangheili space? there is now!)  
Enjoy and review... please ignore blatant plot holes/not following of Halo logic (there is, in the second Forerunner book, a part which talks about humans on the ring mentioning 'fire in the sky', I assume, the halo firing, they didn't die, so... Bright didn't die either...)

(Note end, prologue begin)

Bright stared at the display screen, wondering what they had in store for him this time. Last time his father had taken him somewhere, it had been to a Builder planet and had ended in disaster.

He laced his fingers behind his back and sighed.

_I can tell you where the ship is headed, if you want._

An amused smile crossed his lips before he forced it down, checking with a quick glance to make sure no one had seen. "That would ruin the surprise," he replied to his ancilla.

_Hm. If you think so._

"I do," he murmured, looking over as the ship came out of slipspace. He walked over to his father, "Where are we?"

"Your temporary new home," Chaser replied, glancing at him with cold grey eyes.

Bright's brow furrowed slightly, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you need to handle yourself for a while. Be responsible for something."

"I—"

Chaser flashed him a look that silenced him, then waved his hand. The ship seemed to vanish around them. Bright stared out into space.

His mouth dropped open, "What… what _is_ that?" he asked, awed and scared.

"It is called Installation 06 and, for you, it doesn't matter what it's for or how it got there," Chaser said, warningly. "You're here to help the Monitor."

"Monitors don't need help," Bright argued.

Chaser silenced him with another look, "You'll do as you're told."

Bright looked down, which his father took as obedience. "What area of space is this? I don't recognize it," Bright asked.

"It's hardly been charted, but it is not inhabited by any species capable of space travel."

"Is that why we put this here?" Bright asked, pointing at the ring as they got closer.

"That, as I said, is not your business."

Bright looked away, irritated.

(Moments later)

The ship didn't land. Bright dropped down a gravity lift and landed in a slight crouch in the grass.

He lifted a hand and waved as the ship departed. He watched until it went into slipspace and vanished.

Bright looked around, wondering what he was meant to do. The area he'd landed on looked like prairie. He followed the ring around and saw forests and mountains, as well as an ocean or two.

It seemed like some sort of Lifeworker project. Maybe it was only for second-forms and over, that's why his father hadn't told him about it.

He took a step and fell into the ground. He yelled and hit the floor as gravity righted itself. He stared at the ceiling, confused.

A Monitor floated over him and looked at him with a golden eye, "Hm. You must be the Lifeworker."

"Yeah…"

"Get up, then."

Bright stood up, "My name is Bright Star Hidden."

"Pleasure," he bobbed up and down, "Mine is 182 Silent Sun. Welcome to Installation 06."

"What exactly _is_ an installation?"

"If you don't know, you're not allowed to know, and I won't be telling you," he turned away and floated down the hall. Bright trotted after him.

"Well, fine, but what do I do?"

The Monitor was humming and ignored him.

He sighed slightly and followed him up a lift to an observatory deck. He walked over and looked out one of the windows over a forest.

_What could possibly be the point to all this? We already have plenty of planets to experiment on… _

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Hm? Oh, no."

Silent Sun uttered an electronic sigh, "You are to make your rounds and do your Lifeworker thing with all the flora and fauna."

"Make… more?"

"No. Make sure it's okay."

"Oh, I can do that."

"You… are a first-form, yes?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm."

Bright frowned, "Okay, so how do I get all the way around this huge thing?"

"The doors in the lower hall lead to the different ecosystems. Explore."

Bright opened the door, making a low 'tch' sound, "Insufferable," he muttered.

Sun heard him and turned as the door closed. "Hm. He seems… odd. I hope I didn't get stuck with a reject," he sighed, "Oh that would be my luck, though, wouldn't it?"

Meanwhile, Bright had found a door into a temperate forest. He looked around at towering pine trees, the likes of which he'd never seen on his planet, but he'd heard of them. He knew they were common on Erde'Tyrene, some of the little information he'd been given about that planet.

He pulled a scanner off his belt and started identifying species. Most of them were hybrids. That came as no surprise, it was a Lifeworker experiment (he assumed) and they enjoyed making hybrids out of everything.

The brush rustled and he looked down. A strange creature ran out. It was about as tall as his knees, sleek and black, mottled with dark brown. He pointed the scanner at it before it bounded off.

"A jameerat?" he wondered aloud, "Let's see… from S'anga IV? I've never heard of either of those."

_S'anga IV is a planet in the nearest star system. There are no exceptionally evolved species on it, as of yet._

"Hm. Of course," Bright muttered. "Why else would we be messing with it?" The question was rhetorical and his ancilla didn't answer.

For the rest of the day (he kept track of time in his helmet, as the sun never seemed to move) he explored the area of forest. He found his way back to the door and slipped back through into the control center.

"Ah, you're back. Well, how much did you see?" Sun asked.

"Just a pine forest."

"Hm," he seemed disappointed. "Well, anyway, you'll be staying in the other observation tower, there is food and drink and a comm if you would like to contact your father."

Bright nodded and found his way to the other tower. It had been outfitted to house a Builder, much more luxurious than anything he was used to.

He took his helmet off and left it on a chair, running a hand through his hair. It was longer than perhaps his father would have liked for a first-form, but he liked it. He tried the comm first and got no response. Disappointed, he found the food store and just grabbed a few odd fruits, not exceptionally hungry. He sat on a floor cushion by one of the large windows and looked out, still in awe of the ring.

With a shimmer, the sky polarized and darkened, giving the appearance of night with a large, dim white star.

Bright's eyes scanned the stars, searching for familiar constellations or galaxies. Finding none, he tried to identify planets. He found a blue dot and assumed it was perhaps S'anga IV. He wondered what that planet looked like… was it similar to his home? Or was it radically different?

He had thought the Builder planet was different enough. The Builders had long ago taken over their planets with metal, even moving the oceans into the air.

The floating oceans were impressive, but Bright thought he preferred his oceans on the ground where they belonged.

He finished his humble meal and stood up, stretching. There wasn't a bed in the room. Bright wasn't surprised, no one really expected Forerunners to sleep.

He left his helmet off and curled up on a few floor cushions and closed his eyes.

(Approx. one month later)

"Why aren't the comms working?"

Sun turned and looked at him, "Aren't they?"

"No. I've tried every night I've been here and they don't work."

"Odd," Sun commented.

"Yeah, odd," Bright said. He looked down at his tablet, "So… what am I meant to do now? I've explored and documented every area on this ring. Everything seems normal to me."

"I don't know," Sun said, "I was just told I was getting a Lifeworker, they never told me what to do with you."

"So… I've done all this for no reason?" Bright asked, staring at him, incredulous.

Sun watched the young Forerunner for a moment before Bright realized what he was doing wrong. His face fell immediately into nonexpression and he turned away.

"What exactly are you?" Sun asked, curious.

"I'm a Lifeworker," Bright said, avoiding the question.

"Yes… but… you're odd."

"I know," he looked up and smiled. "I don't know why."

"Uh-huh. Why are you here?"

Bright frowned and looked out the window, "I don't know—"

"You don't know much, do you?"

"I was going to continue, if you can hold in your sarcastic comments," Bright said testily, "I _assume_ it's because my oddness lost us the chance to work on a Builder world."

"Your father must be ashamed."

"Yes, thank you, I know."

Sun bobbed, "So you're here as punishment," he deduced.

"Or just to keep me out of trouble."

The comm light flickered and Bright pressed it. The window darkened and a holoscreen flickered in. It was a bad connection, cutting in and out.

It was Bright's family. He stared at the screen.

"Bright," his father started, "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you—" it cut out briefly, "—comms are failing. Listen, Bright, stay where you are. I know you're confused, but you're safe."

"Father, what—"

"Listen," Chaser interrupted. "Everyone is in very great danger. Where you are, you're safe. I'm sorry, Bright. It was the only way I could protect you."

"What do you mean?" Bright asked desperately. "If it's safe here, why aren't you all here?"

"Because where you are is a Builder secret. The only way I got you there was to tell them it was for punishment. They don't want you around, Bright, you're different, you're not… Forerunner and they don't like it. If I could have gotten us all there, I would have, but you were the only one with an excuse—"

"What's going on?"

Chaser looked at him for a moment and the screen fritzed again, "I'm not angry with you Bright, remember that."

His mother leaned in, "We love you, Bright, all of us. Remember that, darling."

Bright stared at them and his eyes were drawn to his sister. She was watching him, but she was crying. She was a second-form.

"Please, tell me what's happening!" Bright exclaimed.

Chaser opened his mouth and the comm went dead. Bright stared at it, hollow. Lights started to blink on and something started charging. Bright looked at the Monitor, "What's going on?" he demanded.

"It seems… someone has remotely activated the Installation…" Sun said, "… strange…"

Bright spun around and ran out of the tower, sprinting outside. His feet hit the grass just as the sky split with a deafening roar.

Bright screamed, his helmet and armor sealed, locking out everything. Silence engulfed him and he stared up at the sky, his visor darkening against the rage of fire.

Everything faded and he dropped to his knees, numb. He had no conscious idea of what had transpired, but somehow, he knew exactly what had just happened.

His suit unsealed, but the silence was everywhere. Not a bird was singing. They were all in the same shock.

He sat there for a few minutes or an hour, he didn't know.

Eventually, he forced himself to his feet unsteadily and pulled his helmet off, unsure why.

He heard a quiet chime and the Monitor floated over to him, "I'm sorry."

Bright shook his head and fell right back down into a crosslegged pose, hugging his helmet against his stomach, staring at the ground.

There was a flicker of golden light and Bright glanced over as a hologram kneeled next to him. It was golden, translucent and looked like a Lifeworker. Sun held his usual form in his hands and looked at Bright.

"What did it do?" Bright whispered.

Sun's eyes widened slightly, "I… don't want to say," he said, just as quiet. His voice was still robotic seeming.

Bright tucked his face against his helmet, his throat tight and eyes stinging.

Silent Sun sat by as the Lifeworker cried. He said nothing, not sure what to do. He'd never been programmed for this situation. He turned his body over in his holographic hands, he'd never actually used a hologram before, but he'd thought it would be better for Bright. He felt sorry for the Lifeworker. Though he hadn't told Bright what the ring did, it seemed he knew.

Sun looked up at the sky. When his ring had activated, so had every other. The galaxy was dead… and it was very likely that the grief stricken first-form sitting next to him was the last Forerunner alive.


	2. The Sangheili - Part I

Authors Notes: Part one of the second prologue... I know... it's a prologue, it shouldn't be in parts, but it is. I really love Elites okay? And I thought this was a nice place to end a part, but there's more going to happen.  
Characters:  
Imra 'Roramee: our hero  
Ryn 'A'karabae: the illegal friend  
Sha 'Saralkaa: the unwilling accomplice

Pay special attention to their names, please! Especially how they change/do not change. I try to say a lot just in that. Especially later... especially with Imra (hintyhint, pay attention to how his name is different from the others when a certain major event happens to them... spoilers)

A note on names: -ee means you're in the military (examples: 'Roram - 'Roramee, 'Saralkaa - 'Saralkee) -ai means you're good with a sword (example: Ryn's fake name 'Mak'alkai) 'Nar menas you're a Fleet Master (example: Imra 'Roramee - Imra 'Nar Roramee)

And I have no idea what a lot of these expressions look like... use your imagination! An Elite grinning? Probably amusing.  
And their HUD is a sort of transparent eye covering and it makes their eyes the same colour as their armor. So if I say Sha's eyes are gold, then his HUD isn't active, if it is, his eyes look red. Ryn's eyes are yellow-green, when her HUD is up, they're orange. Imra's eyes are bright green, when his HUD is up, they're teal.

I got a lot of this info from my knowledge and cross-checked on wiki. And girls are taught to fight, but stay home to protect their family (except for Ryn because she's determined to- spoilers)

(Notes end, prologue begin)

"'Roramee."

Imra turned, saw Sha and sighed, "What now, 'Saralkee?"

"I heard about your little achievement."

"Oh, you mean getting the Fleet Master post over you?"

Sha growled, "You won't last a day," he said, "I don't know what the Kaidon was thinking when he appointed you."

"Well," Imra said, somewhat sarcastic, "judging by your rather… heretical talk, he was better to choose me."

Sha's fist clenched, but he made no move to attack the smaller Sangheili.

Imra sighed, looking out over the ruins again, "Anyway, there's nothing _you_ can do about it besides try to get yourself assigned to another fleet."

Sha snorted, "I'd rather be exiled than under your command."

"Really?" Imra asked brightly, "I can arrange that."

"It was a figure of speech, idiot."

"Oh, please, Sha, it would be my pleasure."

Sha growled again, golden eyes narrowing.

Imra smirked and stalked past Sha, head held cockily high. Sha glared after him.

Imra ignored the unsettled warrior and trotted down a set of stairs.

"Imra!"

He paused and looked back, watching with amusement as she came sprinting down the stairs, nearly knocking several others over.

She skidded to a halt next to him, panting.

"One of these days you're going to kill someone in your haste, Ryn."

She snorted, "Who are you kidding? I'm the most careful Sangheili there is," she said grinning.

"Right. What are you in such a… careful hurry to tell me?"

"I heard you got made a Fleet Master," she said as they walked. "I knew you would!"

He smiled, "You're about the only one who expected it."

"Don't be so modest, you'll be great, uh… 'Nar Roramee," she said, grinning. "By the way, I saw that 'Saralkaa on the way here. He looked pretty angry, did you argue again?"

"'Saralkee, Ryn, don't be so rude. But, yes. That one's got some attitude problems. I hope he's not on my ship."

Ryn laughed, "That would be disaster. Speaking of your ship… I wanted to ask you something…"

"Go on."

"Not here."

Imra looked at her, suspicious, but complied and let her lead him to a secluded place. He crossed his arms, "What's so secret?"

"I want you to take me with you."

Imra laughed, "Don't be rediculous— you're… not joking… are you…?" he asked, his amusement fading.

She shook her head, "Please, Imra? I want to fight."

"Ryn, you're a healer. More than that, a female, you know you can't be a warrior."

"I know, but—"

"No 'but's, Ryn," Imra said. His green eyes hardened. The joke was over with. "I'm not letting you risk your life and your honor so you can fight."

"I won't get caught. I'll get special ops armor and a voice modulator and—"

"No, 'A'karabae!" Imra interrupted, calling her, as he never did, by her last name. "If you got caught, we would both be dead, or worse, exiled. I'm not putting my family's rank in danger so you can live out your selfish fantasy," he growled.

Ryn stared at him for a moment, then huffed and walked past him, breaking into a run. Imra watched her go, not overly concerned. She would sulk for a while, but she would get over it.

He shrugged and continued heading home.

(A few days later)

Imra pressed his hands to the window, looking out at the flagship of his fleet. It was almost intimidating. They passed close, heading for the docking bay. Imra grinned to himself as they passed the name, _Fleeting Misconceptions_. He was proud of that name, though it hadn't occurred to him until now that it might give others reason to doubt him.

He stepped back as they docked and was the first one off the transport. He held back his sprint and walked, with dignity, onto his ship. He tried not to stare around too much, but he couldn't help it. The ship was impressive already. He made his way to the control room and when he opened the door, he couldn't help a shout of delighted laughter.

Everyone who was already there looked at him in some surprise.

Still grinning, he trotted up onto the raised platform and walked to the front. His grin faded when he looked down at the pilot, clad in red and black Zealot armor. His eyes narrowed for a moment and then he smiled and hopped down into the lower circular walk and wandered over to the pilot.

"Hey, 'Saralkee, fancy seeing you here."

Sha glared at him, "You know full well this wasn't my choice, 'Roramee."

"That's 'Nar Roramee to you. I'd watch it in the future or you might find yourself under close eye of the elders…" Sha growled and Imra grinned and turned away, hopping back up onto the platform and walking over to the navigator. He wore black and orange SpecOps armor and the little Imra could see of the Sangheili underneath were his orange eyes, but that might just be his Heads-up, miscolouring them. The Sangheili looked… oddly small, but Imra didn't comment. If he wasn't up to standard, he wouldn't be here. All the same… he looked short.

Imra shook his head to clear it and the navigator saw him and jumped to an attentive pose, saluting. Imra saluted back, "Relax," he said.

The navigator fell into a slightly more at ease stance, "Did you need something, Fleet Master?"

"Just checking in…" Imra looked at him for a moment, "What's your name?"

"'Mak'alkai."

"Hm," Imra thought about that. He could imagine the small Sangheili was good with a sword, he looked agile enough, but he'd never heard the name 'Mak'alk. Then again, he didn't know everyone on the planet. He'd look into it later.

He wandered off, examining all the consoles and the holoprojector in the center of the dais. Currently, it was projecting a star map of the Sangheili system and surrounding space.

"You, navigator… 'Mak'alkai," Imra said.

The Sangheili looked up and walked over, "Yes, Fleet Master?"

"Don't tell anyone… but I didn't exactly pay attention at the briefing. You have our heading right?"

"Of course," he said with a slight laugh, "but what would you have done if I hadn't, if you don't mind my asking, 'Nar Roramee?"

"Ah… well…" he thought about that for a moment, "I suppose we would have to improvise."

"'Roramee! Sorry, '_Nar_ Roramee."

Imra turned around and saw what Sha was trying to tell him.

"The rest of the fleet is ready to leave."

"Then, by all means, let us lead them," Imra said, walking to the front of the dais again.

Sha turned and engaged the controls at his station, entering the slipspace coordinates that 'Mak'alkai had set. In a few minutes, they were in slipspace.

Imra stood a moment, basking in his own pride. He had a lot to be proud of. He was his, and everyones, last pick to be Fleet Master, but somehow he'd managed it. He exhaled and patched his helmet into the shipcomm, "Attention, crew, this is your Ship Master speaking. If you hadn't noticed, we have gone to slipspace, but it will be a few days before we reach our destination. That means we have plenty of time to get used to one another, so if there are any disputes, settle them quickly," he glanced at Sha, who met his gaze with a glare, "I won't tolerate fighting among the ranks and that includes among species," he added as an afterthought, just to be safe. "If there _are_ any problems, bring them to me before deciding to fight them out. That's all. Get back to work."

"_Fantastic_ speech, Fleet Master," Sha drawled sarcastically.

"He made an excellent point," Mak'alkai interrupted before Imra could say a word. "What's the point in fighting before we get to the enemy?"

"Well said and exactly my point," Imra nodded to the smaller Sangheili. "So, if you have a problem, please, enlighten me," the way he said it was almost a threat.

Sha growled, "You know exactly my problem."

Imra took a deep breath, thinking. Sha expected him to fight. If he did, he'd probably lose. He was a fine warrior, but Sha was bigger than him. If he didn't fight, Sha would have reason to call him a coward and he didn't want that. He narrowed his eyes, at a loss. Sha seemed to realize what was going on and snorted a laugh, turning away.

That was a bad idea. Imra hopped down into the lower walkway and kicked Sha in the back, sending him crashing into a console. He ran over, activating his sword with a quick swipe of his arm. He shoved the bigger Sangheili down while he was unbalanced and knelt on him, holding the sword above his face and snarling.

Sha stared at him, somewhere between surprised and angry.

"Never underestimate your enemy," Imra growled. "And don't threaten me again."

He stood up and backed off, deactivating the sword. Sha hadn't threatened him out loud, per se, but Imra knew he wanted nothing more than to de-throne Imra and take his place. He'd have to keep an eye on the Zealot.

He looked up to the dais, surprised to see quite the crowd gathered. He dismissed his surprise. Sangheili always loved a fight.

"Back to your posts, all of you," he ordered. He walked around the dais and exited the control room via a locked door to his quarters. He called up the ships AI. It's hologram flickered up, a rather stylized Sangheili.

"Fleet Master," it said with a slightly questioning tone.

"Search the crew manifest for 'Mak'alkai."

"Processing…" it was quiet for a moment, "There are no Sangheili on board with that name, 'Nar Roramee, in fact, that is not a recorded name at all in my database."

Imra sighed. The AI should have every name in the military, which was every family on the planet.

_Forerunners, why are you testing me? _He asked in a thought, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

The navigator was below recruitment height, Imra was certain of that as he had hardly qualified and this Sangheili was shorter than him, significantly, and now it was shown he had a fake name. What kind of Sangheili would decieve like this… unless they had no honor?

His eyes widened slightly, _Oh please, Forerunners… let me have this one…_

He cursed loudly and slammed a hand into the wall, glad they were thick and soundproof. He opened his door and stalked out, walking straight over to the navigator and grabbing them by their shoulder armor and dragging them off the deck.

Imra noticed the navigator wasn't even protesting as he was pulled away. He growled to himself and shoved the Sangheili into a storage room, shutting the door behind them and locking it.

"_Ryn…_" he growled lowly.

"… yeah…" she answered, turning off her voice modulator.

He cursed again, "What is wrong with you? Did you not hear a word I said?"

"I didn't think I would get caught."

"You wouldn't have if you weren't so short."

"There's… a required height…?"

Imra sighed, "If you're going to stow away, you should at least research."

Ryn shrugged.

Imra closed his eyes briefly, "If you get caught, Ryn, we're both in trouble. Did you think about that? This is my ship, which means I'm responsible for everyone on it. If anyone notices and happens to mention it to the council, there will be at least a brief investigation, you will be found out and we'll both be exiled. So if you slip up even a little, you'll shame both the 'A'karabae and 'Roram states."

Ryn was quiet for a long moment.

"Didn't think of that, did you?"

"No."

"This is why I told you to stay home. Couldn't you be content with protecting your family?"

"There are plenty of fighters staying behind. I wanted to see something other than Sangheilios, set foot on an alien world. I wanted to actually fight. Do you really think anyone will make it to Sangheilios?"

"It's not likely, but you still should have followed orders. There's honor in staying home."

"You're one to talk," she said. "Everyone in the control room saw you pull your sword, but you did nothing with it. Where's the honor in that?"

Imra stiffened and growled, "You're lucky I don't report you and save myself the trouble later."

"You're… not going to?"

"No. As I said, you're lucky. I'll try to keep suspicion off of you, just be careful."

Ryn nodded.

Imra opened the door and walked out, heading the opposite direction from the control room. He walked into the docking bay and leaned on a support, looking out over the collection of ships, thinking.

Ryn headed back to the bridge and back to her station, making sure her voice modulator was reactivated.

She got a few curious looks, but no one decided it was worth asking why she'd been dragged away so abruptly.

Suddenly the ship shuddered. Ryn looked up and looked at Sha, "What's going on?" she asked.

The Zealot didn't answer her right away, his hands flitting over controls, "I don't know." His voice was tense and she didn't like it.

A Ranger trotted over to her, 'A'kiramee, she thought his name was. "Where is the Fleet Master?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied, suddenly worried.

"Find him."

She nodded sharply and left the bridge, running down the curving hall, almost kicking over a few Unggoy. They chattered at her, irritated and she stopped and snarled at them, sending them running, terrified.

She stopped a Minor, "Have you seen Imra?"

He stared at her, confused.

"'Nar Roramee? The Fleet Master?"

"No," he said as the ship shook again, violently. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea," she said honestly, taking off again. She reached the door to the docking bay just as it opened and the ship flung sideways, throwing her. She smacked her head against the wall and almost fell, but managed to keep her balance and shook her head to clear it.

A slightly staggering form stood up next to her, he hadn't managed to keep his balance so well. He looked at her, his green eyes coloured teal by his HUD. "Ryn, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I was thinking. What's going on?"

"I don't know." The ship was eerily still now. "Sha doesn't know either."

"Let's get back to the bridge then."

She nodded and they ran back to the control room

Imra ran up onto the dais and halted, staring out at empty space. Something was definitely wrong. He shouldn't be seeing stars.

"Sha…" he said slowly.

Sha looked up, "As much as you know, I know, Fleet Master," he said, oddly respectful. Then again, this situation didn't call for sarcasm.

Imra activated his comm and called the engine room, "How is the slipspace drive?" he asked.

"We're not sure," a grave voice answered. "It just failed. I've set a Huragok to look at it."

"Okay," Imra said, "let me know when it's done."

He closed his eyes for a moment, mildly numb as he realized something.

He'd lost his fleet.


	3. The Sangheili - Part II

Author's Note: Part II, finally! Sorry, I got like major writer's block in the middle of this... and also Halo 4 came out... and... well you know how much I love Forerunners.  
Anyway, our next character appears here! His prologue will be next and honestly, it'll be a lot of the same dialogue and things happening.  
(Note end, prologue begin)

(A month later)

Imra slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling. No one bothered him, they knew better. Ever since they'd lost the rest of the fleet, the Fleet Master had been quiet, lost in thought. Not even Sha would make comments.

The entire ship had been somewhat melancholy. The Huragok couldn't fix the slipspace drive.

Imra could only hope the rest of his fleet was slaughtering the heretics in his name. They'd probably gotten a new Fleet Master, however.

"Fleet Master…" a Minor started cautiously.

Imra snarled, "_What_?!" he sat up straight and glared at the offending Minor, scaring a couple of Unggoy completely off the bridge.

"Humans… sir."

Sha reached over and tapped a few controls, bringing the picture up on a holoscreen in front of the window. A small human patrolling ship.

Imra stood up, interested, "I'm not familiar with human ships, is it slipspace capable?"

"Yes," Ryn said, walking over to his side, her voice masked by the modulator.

Imra smiled, "'Saralkee, 'Mak'alkai, you're with me," he looked at the Minor. "Take out it's engines and weapons."

In a few minutes, they were outside the human ship, all three of them wearing vacuum armor. Imra kicked in the airlock door. They broke through the inner seal.

Imra activated his sword and shoved it through a startled human, the smaller creature had just gotten his vacuum helmet on. Too late.

They fought their way through the ship. Imra left Ryn and Sha with a group of humans and he ran down an empty corridor and halted.

Down the hall from him was a human in green armor. Imra tilted his head. _A demon…_ he realized. He'd never seen one before, but he'd heard stories.

He snarled at it, though he knew the sound traveled no farther than his helmet.

The demon drew a small weapon and started firing. Imra ran forward and backhanded it, not wanting to kill it too fast. The demon backpedaled and hit back, knocking Imra's sword away. The Fleet Master was surprised for a moment. It turned into a fist fight. The demon was incredibly strong, an evenly matched opponent, perhaps, for Sha. Imra was smaller than the average Sangheili and it was evident now.

The demon shoved him up against the wall, a sharp piece of shrapnel in his hand at Imra's throat. Everything froze for a moment. Neither could see the others face behind opaque visors. Imra brought a leg up quickly and slammed his knee into the demon's less armored midsection. The human fell back and Imra dropped into a crouch and grabbed his sword, bringing it up just as the demon tackled him.

He lay there for a moment, on his back with the heavy human on his chest and then he shoved it off, rolling onto his hands and knees.

Panting, he looked up to see Sha and Ryn standing in the hall.

"How long have you been standing there?" Imra asked over the comm.

"Not long," Sha said. "Is that a demon?"

"Yes." Imra moved over and grabbed the dead human. As he did, there was a flash of blue light and a hologram appeared, startling Imra and causing him to draw his hand back in surprise. The construct shouted at him soundlessly.

Imra stared at it. It glared back, it's face twisted in simulated pain.

He looked up at Ryn and Sha, "Go find the slipspace drive and see if we can salvage it, I'll meet you there."

They nodded and ran back down the hall. Imra looked back at the construct, who hacked into his helmet systems and shouted at him in the human language.

Imra growled and nudged a control in his helmet. His visor flickered and changed views, letting him see where the hologram was projecting from. His eyes widened in some surprise and he rolled the demon over and ripped it's helmet off, exposing a human, if pale, face. The construct was silent, shocked. Imra pulled the neck armor down and exposed the base of the demon's skull. He pulled the construct's card out of the demon's neck and the hologram vanished. He stood up, tucking it in a pouch on his belt.

He headed off down the hall toward the engine rooms, feeling significantly better than he had been.

They comandeered the crude slipspace drive and took it back to the flagship. They handed it off to some Minors to take to the engine room and then headed to the bridge.

Imra headed straight to his quarters and shut the door. He called up the ship's AI, "Seal the network off from this room."

The AI paused, "Then I will not be able to access your systems."

"I know."

"Very well," it vanished.

Imra took the AI card from his belt and touched it to the computer. The blue light vanished from the card and the hologram projected again. It didn't start yelling, it just stared at him.

"Can you understand me?" Imra asked.

It didn't reply. It tilted it's head and closed it's eyes briefly, reached up a hand and touched Imra's helmet. His HUD sparked and he jumped back.

"What did you do?"

"I learned your language," the AI said, it's voice male.

"What else did you learn?"

"Nothing important. You didn't have much in that helmet, just your own weapon statistics, etcetera."

Imra watched him for a moment, "You're a military construct."

"You're not very subtle. I'm a personal AI. And even if I did have military intel, I wouldn't give it to you. I just watched you murder my Spartan. You're a monster."

Imra narrowed his eyes, "I am the monster, yet your kind have slaughtered many of my brothers. Hundreds of friends will never return home because of your demons."

"Who started this war? Because it wasn't the humans."

"If you are getting technical, it was not the Sangheili," Imra said, "but the Covenant."

"Which you are a part of," he said. "The so called gods you follow are just as much monsters as you are. What gods would want their subjects to slaughter everyone who did not think the same way they did?"

Imra did not reply.

The AI looked at him for a long time, "Why did you really take me? I can tell you're different, though not by much."

Imra blinked, "Do not assume you can interrogate _me_, construct."

"Right, because you're a Fleet Master and I'm just a lowly human-ish computer program."

"Don't patronize me."

He looked at Imra, curious. He stood up. His hologram was the size of a human, so he was at least a few feet taller than the Fleet Master standing on the console.

"There is something odd about you, oh exhalted Fleet Master."

"Please stop with the sarcasm," Imra sighed. "My name is Imra 'Nar Roramee."

The AI blinked, "Kappa," he sat back down. "I'm surprised. You haven't even asked me any questions. Why did you take me? You can tell me, I promise not to tell your shipmates."

Imra growled lowly, then shook his head, exhaling sharply, "How much do you know of our culture, construct?"

"You seem to value honor above all else."

"That is true," Imra said. "Most do."

"You don't?"

Imra glared at him, "I did not say that," he growled.

"Of course not," Kappa said, looking at him. His eyes were narrowed, slightly angry, but Imra suspected he was hiding a lot of anger. "Why would you be any different than the rest of your murdering species?"

Imra growled, "Are humans so different? You hate because you are seeing it only from your persepective. See from my eyes. Honor above all else. If I fail, if I slip up even an inch, I will shame myself and by extension, the entire 'Roram state. The only way to correct a wrong I do is to kill myself. I…" he stopped and straightened up slightly, calming down, "I do not want to die."

Kappa stared at him, "You are different," he mused, some of his anger gone.

"I am. So many would kill themselves to follow the path to the gods. I could never…" he paused.

"I understand," the AI said, his voice devoid of resentment for the moment.

Imra sighed, "I have said too much."

"You haven't said a whole lot."

"With the knowledge I have given you, you could get me exiled. The effect would be a morale blow to my crew, but… you are right. I have no fleet at the moment. Most likely they have elected a new Fleet Master. You would not gain much by accusing me of being a coward."

"I never said you were a coward, in fact, I think that living with any shame you might have is much braver than killing yourself to escape it. That's how humans think, anyway. We must be very different."

"Indeed."

"How'd you lose your fleet?"

Imra growled.

His door opened and he spun around. Sha was standing in the door. He narrowed his eyes, "You kept the construct?"

"What do you want?" Imra demanded, still irked by the AIs presumptuous question.

Sha's lower jaws twitched and he growled slightly, then exhaled sharply, "The Huragok have succeeded in integrating the humans slipspace drive to our engines."

Imra nodded, "Continue to our original coordinates."

Sha turned away, casting a parting glance at the AI before the door shut behind him.

"You took our engine."

"Yes."

"Because yours was broken?"

Imra didn't reply, but he didn't need to. Kappa folded his legs up and waited.

Imra sighed slightly, "Don't try to access any of our systems," he warned. He opened his door and walked onto the bridge as the ship tore a hole in space and jumped through it.

"Hm. Not the most efficient," he commented, walking over to Ryn.

She looked at him, "No, but it ought to get us there, or close," she replied, her voice coming out, as usual, male.

"Hopefully," Imra agreed.

(Approx. a week later)

Imra was talking to Ryn when they shuddered out of slipspace, the ship complaining at the rough exit. Imra's mandibles clicked in distaste at the human technology.

He looked out the window and frowned.

Ryn shrugged, "I said close."

"How did the humans ever manage to get off their planet?" he asked rhetorically.

"Are you kidding?" an angry voice snapped back. "Humans had to work their way into the stars, you just stole technology left behind from some unfortunate dead race."

Imra looked around and the holomap flickered and died, replaced by a human sized hologram.

Everyone stared at it.

The AI crossed his arms and flickered red. When he did, the lights dimmed. He grinned, "Your AI might not have meant to do it, but by interacting with me so much, he gave me access to all the systems in the ship. I control it now. I could make us crash if I wanted, slipspace into the heart of a star," he turned red again and purple slightly as he went back to blue.

Imra frowned, "The ship should not have been interacting with you."

Kappa raised his eyebrows what Imra deciphered as sarcastically surprised, "Well… if you didn't order it… someone did," he hissed.

Imra turned and looked at Sha.

The Zealot walked up to his side, "You were never getting anything out of that AI the way you were going about it."

"Oh? And look what you did, he's broken _and_ has control of the ship."

"So yank it."

"Don't even try," the AI snarled, flashing red again. "And I'm not _broken_, unless you've never seen a rampant AI before. Maybe yours are just so much better than humanitys that they never _go_ rampant!" he said, his voice escalating into a yell. He turned red again, his voice more robotic than human.

"Calm down," Imra said as the ship lost power momentarily.

Kappa faded to blue, "You know what? I think I'll just disable lifesupport and launch all the other ships and see how long it takes you to die. Then I'll wait for humans to come find me. That sounds fun."

Imra walked forward until he was standing right in front of the hologram, who glared at him, flickering. He spoke softly, so no one would hear, "I will take you back to the humans."

Kappa's glare faded slightly and he looked suspicious.

"No you won't," he hissed.

"Yes, I will. I promise—" he broke off as Sha called to him.  
"We're in range of the fleet," the pilot said, activating a comm.

Imra turned around to the video. Kappa vanished behind him.

The elite on screen looked surprised, "'Roramee, you're alive?" he asked.

"Surprisingly, yes. Sorry it took us so long to show up."

"Stop with the pleassantries," Sha interrupted. "Are you the new Fleet Master?"

"Yes."

"Good, then I've got something to show you,"

"Sha, what—" Imra started to say when the pilot grabbed Ryn, dragged her forward and pulled her helmet off forcibly.

The Fleet Master stared.  
"Right," Sha said. "She stowed away on the ship and 'Roramee knew about it and did nothing."

Imra edged toward his quarters.

The new Fleet Master thought about it, then nodded, "Well, Sha, you'll have to take care of it then. As of now, I'm promoting you to Ship Master."

Imra palmed open his door.

The AIs hologram was small and looked up when he stepped in, "What's goin on, I hear a lot of talk?"

"I'm taking you back."

"Now?"

"No time like the present," Imra muttered and yanked the AI chip, stowing it on his belt and rejoining the group on the bridge.

The vidcomm was off. Sha walked over to him, dragging Ryn along, who had put her helmet back on and had her head low, ashamed and guilty.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Sha growled.

Imra took a breath, "Get it over with, then."

"Oh, no, I'm not going to kill you," Sha said. "We're going to the docking bay."

Imra frowned, but went along, not sure what the pilot had planned.

They made it to the shuttle area and Sha stopped in the middle of the floor, "Kneel."

"Sha, what are you—" Ryn started to say. Sha grabbed her shoulder and wrenched it back, forcing her to the ground.

"You should be happy, the cowards that you both are, I'm not going to kill you," he said, pulling a panel of her armor off. He took a knife off his belt.

_Oh, Forerunners…_ Imra realized, "I'm sorry, Ryn."

She heard his tone and couldn't reply before Sha dug the blade into her back. She screamed. Imra looked away.

Her pained screaming died away and Imra heard the sound of her armor being marred to match. He looked back as it was replaced, hardly having time to register the Mark of Shame carved into her black armor before he was shoved down as well. By this time there was a large crowd.

Ryn was crying. Imra was still, holding his head as dignified as he could. He didn't move when Sha took a piece of his armor off.

He tensed, fists clenching when Sha cut into him. There was no blood, the energy blade cauterizing the wound instantly.

Imra kept his silence as the Mark was carved into his armor as well, on his back and his chest.

Sha stepped back and Imra stood up, pulling Ryn to her feet.

The new Ship Master watched them as Imra led an unsteady Ryn over to a weapon crate and grabbed a sword for her and then ushered her into a Seraph. No one tried to stop them. This was procedure after all. They were exiles now.

Imra sat Ryn down in the navigators seat and sat down in the pilots spot, fixing the flight harness to his armor. He put his hands on the controls and steered the ship out of the hangar.

Imra tried to ignore the pain in his shoulder and Ryn's muffled cries. The rest of the fleet were around the nearest planet. Imra thought. They should slipspace out of the area. They wouldn't live long if they encountered anyone else of the fleet, Sha had made quite sure of that.

Imra took the AI chip and put it in the navcomputer.

"We need slipspace coordinates to a different planet," Imra said. "I am taking you back, but not here."

Kappa thought for a moment, flickering red briefly, "Well, the places I'd prefer to be dropped off would kill you pretty quickly too… I guess I could get them not to, but—" he broke off as an alarm flashed and the Seraph was hit with plasma bolts from the carrier.

Imra cursed and tried to evade them, "Just like Sha. Listen, construct, we need out of here _now_."

"Uh… right…" he flickered again and shook his head. They were hit again and something exploded. Ryn shrieked and leaned forward.

"Imra I think they hit the engines."

"Yeah, they did," the AI confirmed as the planet's gravity caught them. He turned and looked at the view as they were pulled down toward the planet. "Well… we're going to crash."


	4. The AI

(April 2550)

"He's a little… scatterbrained…"

"Look at who he was copied from, though."

"That's true. Remind me why we chose him?"

"He volunteered. Not many would have."

"You know I can hear you, right?"

They looked over as the AI flickered into life, his arms crossed. He looked like the man he'd been made from, the same slender body, the same casual clothes. His hair reminded Jansen of a cat's ears, that was the major difference.

Kappa frowned at him, "And I'm not scatterbrained."

Jansen raised an eyebrow, "If you say so," he grinned.

"Hey!"

Halsey looked between them and cleared her throat, "If you don't mind, Colonel…" she said meaningfully.

"Sorry," Jansen said.

"Mm-hm. Now, as adamant as the AI may be, I'm not sure we can trust him running anything."

Kappa opened his mouth and Jansen yanked his chip before he could say anything.

Jansen thought about it, "We could give him to a Spartan."

Halsey nodded, "Which one?"

"064… Jake. He would appreciate the company."

"This isn't to make a Spartan more comfortable, Colonel."

"No, but Jake's… always had some issues. Maybe the extra help would do him good."

(A few days later)

Jansen looked back at the morose Spartan. He was silent, as usual. Jake had never said a word as long as Jansen had known him.

"Gotta little gift for you, sixty-four," Jansen said.

Jake looked at him, curious. He wasn't in his armor and looked extremely out of place. It was always strange to Jansen, seeing a II out of their element. They were all unnaturally pale and the oversized muscles didn't help… that and Jansen had to look up at him. The Spartan was almost seven feet tall.

He led him into Halsey's office. The scientist looked at him and smiled. Jake's lips twitched in a slight smile back.

"Good afternoon, Jake. I have something for you," she said, holding out the chip.

Jake took it and his blue eyes widened. He looked at them both, confused.

Halsey nodded.

Jake stuck the AI into the port in the base of his skull and gasped. He felt the AI syncing up with his brain and after a moment, the sensations faded.

_Hello, _a voice said in his thoughts, _My name's Kappa._

_Hi…_ he thought back, _Jake._

_My goodness, you've got a lot in here… you know, the way they were talking about you, I assumed you were… well…_

_Stupid?_

_Sort of, yeah. _

_Sorry to disappoint you. _

_No, not at all,_ the AI said happily, _I'm glad you're not. We'd hardly have any good conversations if you were. Now, why don't you talk? _

Jake was hardly aware of Halsey and Jansen watching him, _I'm mute._

Kappa seemed surprised, _Only that? That's easy to fix. Let me just…_

Jake flinched, "What are you doing?!" he demanded, then froze.

Kappa appeared next to him, his hologram the size of a normal human, still a foot or so shorter than the Spartan. He looked extremely proud of himself. "I've never done that before!" he grinned.

Jake looked at him, then laughed.

"What did you do?" Jansen asked.

"I'm more worried about what he's doing now," Halsey said.

"What do you mean?" Jansen looked at her.

"Look at the size of his hologram… how is he keeping it stable?" she pondered, looking intrigued.

Kappa flickered and vanished.

Jake looked at them, "May I go, sir?" he asked. Jansen nodded and Jake looked at Halsey, "Ma'm."

(Two years later)

"You think a lot."

Kappa looked at him, sitting lotus style on the desk, his hologram small, "I know."

"Isn't that bad?"

"I guess. Halsey doesn't seem to think I'll last seven years," he said, somewhat sadly.

Jake smiled sympathetically, "I'm sure you will. Maybe, since you think so much already, you won't even notice rampancy," he suggested.

Kappa smiled, "Maybe… I'd better last seven years, I've got to keep an eye on you."

"What would I do without you?" Jake asked, grinning.

"I'm more worried about what _I_ would do without _you_," Kappa said, his smile falling. "They'd decommission me. I'm no help."

Jake frowned, thought about it and smiled, "You won't have to worry about it. Spartans never die, remember?"

Kappa made to reply and then looked up as an alarm went off. Jake grabbed his helmet and ran to the bridge.

"What's going on?" the Spartan asked, shoving his helmet on.

"A Covenant ship, sir," a Marine answered.

"Just one?" Kappa asked. Jake walked over to a console and held K's chip next to it and he transferred to the ship's systems. "Sure enough," the AI mused. "It's a Corvette. Looks like a flagship. That's odd. I wonder why it's alone?"

"I don't know. I wonder why they haven't shot us."

As soon as the Spartan spoke, their ship rocked with the impact. Jake grabbed K from the computer and put the AI back in his head, "Everyone get vaccum helmets," he ordered. "They only took out the engines and weapons systems. They're coming aboard."

The Marines ran from the bridge.

"They're in!" K exclaimed.

Jake trotted after the Marines. He halted.

An Elite was staring back at him. It wore black and teal armor and a vacuum helmet. Judging by the readout in his helmet, they'd torn a hole in the ship. They could safely assume all the Marines were dead.

"K, make sure to safeguard yourself," Jake said. "He can't get ahold of you if I die."

"That won't happen," the AI replied. "You've fought them before and this one is small."

Jake pulled out his pistol and started shooting. The Elite lunged forward and backhanded Jake, sending the Spartan back a few steps. He punched back, knocking the sword away.

Kappa watched, apprehensive. The Elite was small, but vicious. They wrestled back and forth, each gaining the upper hand several times. Jake slammed the thing against a wall, procuring a jagged piece of metal from somewhere and holding it to the Elite's somewhat exposed throat.

"Something's odd…" Kappa murmured.

Jake tensed to kill the Elite.

"No!" Kappa exclaimed. "Wait, don't kill it!"

"Kappa, what're you—" Jake was cut off by the Elite's sudden move.

The Spartan grunted and fell back into the opposite wall. The Elite dropped down and grabbed his sword.

"NO!" Kappa shouted as Jake tackled the Elite. Jake's heartrate spiked and then dropped back down to nothing.

The Elite kicked him off. Kappa watched Jake's vitals, waiting for them to start again. He mentally jerked as the Elite grabbed Jake.

Kappa activated his hologram, "Get away from him!" he screamed soundlessly into the vacuum.

The Elite jerked back, startled. It turned and nodded at it's teammates. Kappa glared and hacked into it's helmet systems and started shouting at him in several human languages. The thing ignored him and shook it's head, irritated. The Elite grabbed Jake and ripped his helmet off. Kappa fell silent, horrified. Jake's blue eyes were wide and unseeing. The Elite rolled him over and pulled Kappa's chip out.

Kappa's hologram vanished and he was put inside a pouch. He bounced along, numb, hardly noticing the flicker of inconsistency in his programming.

_It's my fault. It's my fault. I told him not to kill it. I told him—it's my fault, it—it…_

The next thing the AI knew he was in another computer. A split second told him he was isolated. The Elite stood in front of him.

They talked.

As they did, Kappa noted small twitches, tiny signs that something was wrong. Something was different.

The Fleet Master was called out and another AI butted in.

"Hello…" Kappa said warily, using his new Sangheili language software, unsure if the thing spoke English.

The hologram was a stylized Elite, "I'm not here for pleasantries," it said, "I'm here for information. Will you give it willingly?"

"I don't have any."

"Liar."

"No," Kappa said, "I wasn't trusted with any."

The AI cocked it's head and a fiery pain laced through his code. Kappa yelped, surprised.

"How did you do that?" he asked, curious and frightened.

"I'll ask you again…"

(A week later)

Kappa flickered online, wondering for a moment where he was. He remembered and didn't bother with a hologram.

The ships AI was gone. Kappa felt out with his programming, wondering if he'd managed it. He had.

The Sangheili AI was smart, but not as smart as Kappa was. He hadn't noticed the human AI break off some of himself and merge it with his programming during their last meeting.

Kappa concentrated and projected a hologram on the bridge… just in time to hear Imra make a snide comment about humanity.

He snapped back, noticing the irregularity this time. Something was wrong.

_Oh… that's… not good… _the dismay was replaced by some sort of demented glee when he realized how much control he had over the ship. He dimmed the lights, his hologram fritzing in and out, changing colour briefly.

The Fleet Master and the Pilot started to argue. Kappa laughed and explained his predicament. His anger faded when the Fleet Master asked him to calm down.

_Do it. Just watch them die. It will be fun…_

_No! I don't care if they killed Jake—_

_Exactly! Revenge!_

_You can't just watch them die._

_I can do whatever I want—_

"I will take you back to the humans."

(Half and hour or so later)

"We're going to crash."

Kappa didn't try to steer the ship as it went down. He'd be fine. He could care less about the two exiled Elites in his company.

Imra frantically pawed at controls. Ryn was still wailing, but it was hard to tell if it was because she was bleeding or because the ground was rushing up to meet them.

Kappa looked around and calculated where they were. Human colony world Sigma Octanus IV.

As the Seraph broke through the atmosphere, Kappa shut down his hologram and sent out a distress signal on all the UNSC frequencies that he had access to.

The crash sent a shudder through his program as the Seraph powered down. He reactivated his hologram and looked around. Ryn was slumped over, most likely unconscious. Imra was drifting somewhere between, his eyelids flickering over vibrant green eyes.

After a moment, the ex-Fleet Master shook his head and groaned. He got the flight harness off and forced the hatch open with a rough kick. He grabbed Kappa's chip and stuck it in his belt again and then pulled Ryn out onto the grass.

The female Elite groaned and sat up. Even from his place, Kappa could sense the tension. He knew why. This was her fault.

A response to his signal filtered through his code. He kept it silent. The Elites wouldn't understand it, but he didn't want their suspicion.

_UNSC AI K-785, this is Shadow Team Commander, Alek-145. Respond?_

_I read you, Alek. I've sent coordinates. I—I need pickup. _He paused, unsure why he'd faltered. _I'm by a crashed Seraph._

_We saw that Seraph go down. We'll be there in five._

Kappa projected a small hologram, "I need you to leave me here," he said. "I've contacted a team of soldiers and they're coming shortly. If you don't want to get shot, leave me here."

Imra watched him for a moment, then nodded and took the chip out of his pouch and set it on the Seraph. He walked over and roused Ryn, getting her to her feet.

Kappa watched them, mildly curious. He'd never seen such a jumpy pair of Elites. He watched them until they were swallowed up by the forest, hurrying cautiously to something that might be called safety.

He sat down, wondering what Shadow Team was. Sounded like a group of ODSTs who'd decided to name themselves, except he'd had a number like a Spartan, but he hadn't sounded at all like one. He had, however, sounded like he was from Russia.

He wasn't expecting it when the brush rustled and an armor clad Spartan walked out. Kappa's eyes widened. On closer inspection, as the rest came into the clearing, they weren't Spartans. They were too small. He frowned, actually puzzled. That was unusual for an AI.

They all wore black armor, with different coloured accents. Two caught his eye instantly. Black and teal, and black and orange. Just like the two Elites who had just slunk away.

One with pale blue accents walked up and took his helmet off, "I'm assuming you're K-785?"

"Kappa."

"I'm Alek. Shadow Team's Commander."

"If I might," Kappa began, flickering slightly, "what _is_ Shadow Team, exactly?"

Alek hesitated, as if wondering how much Kappa was allowed to know. The AI saw the mental shrug in his storm-blue eyes, he, like everyone else, assumed a smart AI was entitled to whatever knowledge he wanted, or he'd just steal it later. Which was true.

"We're Spartan IIIs."

"I haven't been gone that long…" Kappa said, his hologram tinting red. "How much could I have missed…?"

The black and teal Spartan walked over and pulled her helmet off as well. How odd. These Spartans seemed rather fond of taking their helmets off, unlike the IIs who thought of it as their face. She smiled at Kappa, then looked at Alek, "Come on, we've got to get back."

"He's rampant," a quiet voice said.

Kappa stood up, flashing red as he identified the sniper in the back. He glared at him.

"We can't just leave him," the girl said.

Alek nodded, "It's not our decision what happens to him," he turned and grabbed Kappa's chip, putting it in a hip compartment as his hologram vanished. Where he was allowed him to patch into all the armor comms. He wasn't sure if it was a good decision on Alek's part, since he was rampant, but it was a thoughtful one.

_A thoughtful Spartan… how funny._

They encountered no trouble on the way back, the Covenant hadn't sent down ground troops in this area yet. Alek hailed a Pelican and shortly thereafter they were off-world.

The Spartans all took their helmets off and Kappa threw up a hologram to get a good look at them all. They looked young, but if they were Spartans, that wasn't surprising. There were three girls, two of which looked oddly similar. The other four were men.

The girl who'd spoken to him earlier moved over and sat next to his hologram, "My name's Kaiti," she said, "I'll introduce you around." She looked up and thought, "Well, you already know Alek, Jaylin's my sister," she pointed to the black and orange, "Sidni's over there." Kappa looked at the girl. She had dark skin and darker eyes, her hair was in cornrows and ended at the base of her skull. Her accent colour was purple. Kaiti moved on, "Nikki's the blonde one," she pointed to him, he didn't look up, but was looking at something on a datapad, "He's our resident techie, so don't expect much conversation from him," she said amused, she pointed to the sniper next, "That's Symon and Flinn is our medic," she gestured in turn from a dark haired man in black and green to a cheerful looking redish blonde. His accent was white, but he had a red cross on his shoulder. Kappa looked at them all and noticed the oddest part. Their armor was all customized. Not just with colours, but the actual armor. They all had different helmets. The most familiar was Kaiti's which was a Mark V, but even it had add-ons.

They were all wearing expressions as well, clearly their emotions were not as stifled down as a II.

"What's a III?" he asked.

Kaiti frowned slightly, "I'm not sure I can tell you, if you don't know," she shrugged. "Sorry, you know how this stuff is."

"Secrets, right… Are you Marines?"

"No, Navy."

"ONI?"

"Not exactly," she blinked grey-blue eyes and ran a hand through cropped short dark brunette hair. "So how did you get that Seraph? I didn't see any Covvies. Did you steal it?"

"Not exactly."

"Secrets…" she said, winking and grinning at him.

He had to laugh, "You're so strange. All of you. For Spartans, I mean."

She shrugged, "I hadn't noticed. Then again, the only II I've ever met is Kurt and he seemed alright… Quiet, but not all stoic and invincible as they make them out to be."

"Spartans never die," Kappa said quietly. That inconsistency came back and he glared at the floor, "Except the UNSC is a pack of liars. Spartans die and they send out knockoff _Spartans_ to replace them when they can't find any _good _soldiers," he growled to himself, viciously sarcastic. The irregularity flickered out and his anger faded. Kaiti was looking at him, somewhere between concerned and angry. He realized he'd just called her a bad soldier. He'd never even seen her fight. Alek was still sitting on Kappa's other side, his face carefully devoid of emotion. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean that."

"I'll let it go," she said.

The Pelican docked with a frigate and Kappa dropped his hologram as the Spartans left the smaller aircraft.

Kappa listened to Alek as he left the rest of the team and headed to the Colonel's office.

"Sir, Shadow Team intercepted a distress call from a UNSC AI."

"I was wondering why you were back late."

Alek handed the Colonel the chip and then was dismissed. Kappa was transferred to the computer and he instantly brought up his hologram, "_Jansen_?!" he exclaimed.

Jansen looked surprised, "Kappa?" he asked, "What the hell happened? We lost all contact with you."

"Jake's dead," Kappa said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"An Elite got him."

"One Elite?" Jansen asked, justifibly confused.

"It was my fault," Kappa said sadly. "I told him not to kill it."

Jansen didn't say anything and entered something into his computer. Most likely recording that Jake was, in fact, KIA.

"What are you doing here?" Kappa asked.

"Hm?"

"With the IIIs? Oh, and if I'm _trustworthy_ enough to know, what exactly are they?" he demanded, his voice escalating slightly, pitch increasing. He saw the red flicker reflected in Jansen's glasses.

Jansen stared at him and his face fell slightly, "Oh… K…"

Kappa calmed down slightly and sat, hugging his knees to his chest, "I know. I think it was a combination of Jake and the Elites…"

"Elites?"

Kappa glanced up and faltered again, "Later," he growled. "What about the IIIs?"

Jansen sighed, "They're the next wave of Spartans. They're cheaper, smaller, faster to make and there's a 100% success rate with the augmentation. And there doesn't need to be a specific gene code, they just use orphans."

"They're different… they're…"

"Emotional? Yeah. Overly. Mostly they're full of anger and an almost insane desire to get revenge. They actually have to take pills to keep their emotions in check."

Kappa thought of Kaiti and Alek, the only two he'd spoken with. They'd seemed bright and cheerful, especially for being in the middle of a war. That must have been, to some extent, what Jansen was talking about. He couldn't imagine them full of rage or hate, "So that's what you sacrificed to get more cannon fodder?"

"Don't say it like that, they're excellent soldiers."

"Why are you working with them?"

"My base was compromised and when I was relocated, they took my IIs and replaced them with Shadow Team. I didn't question it," Jansen shrugged. "I've told my story… what about those Elites?"

(Author's Notes)

I was told my author's notes were too long, so I put them at the end... :P  
Sorry, I've had homework lately and Halo 4, so no time.  
Anyway... humans! Also, Shadow Team! I decided to throw them in.  
And if anyone has a real good reason they shouldn't be on Sigma Octanus IV, tell me and I'll change it. I chose it because according to HaloWiki, it was unsuccessfully attacked at the same time Reach fell, 2552. There were IIIs on Reach (Noble Team, among others) so why shouldn't there have been IIIs on Sigma Octanus IV?  
Anyway, yeah, if you want the conversation between K and Imra on the ship, go read the last chapter.  
And yes, Kappa was copied from a person like Cortana. Namely, a British computer scientist. So... he's a Brit :D Gotta love accents.  
I don't know what's coming next... I can't wait to write about Bright again, but he's not coming back for a few chapters.


	5. Cryptum

(1000 years after Halo fire)

"Bright."

It was all dark. Silent. It was painful, agonizing grief.

"Bright!"

He jumped and gasped, sitting up, eyes wide.

"Finally."

He looked up at the Monitor, shaken.

"Your breathing and heart rate slowed so much I thought you were dead," Sunny said.

The Lifeworker let out a steadying breath, "I think… I accidentally accessed the Domain…"

"Is that even possible? I wouldn't think it would still work."

"It's been long enough," Bright said, somewhat bitterly. "Any problems would have smoothed out by now."

"True enough, I suppose…" Sunny said, "I'm guessing you had no luck with it?"

Bright stared at the wall for a moment and then his helmet formed up around his head, the blue energy over his face faded to a transparent sheet, illuminating his troubled expression with faint blue light, "It was all silent, not a thought, not a feeling, nothing," he narrowed his eyes slightly, the blue was making the usual golden look a bit green. "I've never accessed the Domain before, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like that." He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out. The sky was still polarized around the control center, giving a night look. "I have to wonder though… It was pure luck I ended up here, but surely some Builders took the precautions…"

Sunny bobbed slightly, they'd had this conversation many times before. He always humored the Lifeworker. It was very possible that some of the great and the good were still out there, hidden away in their own safehouses.

This time, Bright took another track of thought, "I wonder if they haven't tried to access the Domain. If they had, I might have heard them."

"They probably haven't thought about it."

Bright nodded.

The sky glittered and brightened as the darkness moved on. Nothing like a real dawn, but it was all he was getting.

Sunny swiveled to look at him, "Always keep hope," he said.

Bright's expression tightened, "Bright Star Hidden and Dark Sky Before Dawn," he said. "My mother named us both after hope and look where that got her."

Sunny watched as the Lifeworker spun around and stalked from the room. He was worried. A year after the Halo had fired, Bright had become… detached. He didn't really seem to care anymore. He talked spitefully about the other Forerunners, just now with his mother. Sunny suspected he didn't show all that he thought or felt, but he didn't know why. They were the only one's here, there was no point in hiding.

He followed Bright out the door. The young Lifeworker was becoming more like a real Forerunner, detached and somewhat emotionless. Sunny hadn't seen him smile in a few months and he realized that he missed it.

Bright vanished through a door and Sunny paused to analyze the portal. It went across the Halo, another control building. He wanted to be alone, that was understandable, after his dreams. Sunny uttered a small sigh and floated along to the main room.

Bright, meanwhile, was riding the lift to the very bottom of the structure. He felt small in most structures. After all, the Halo was designed by a Builder. They always built to impress and accommodate all sizes of Forerunners. Lifeworkers were some of the smallest, on average. The slightest, at any rate. Warrior-servants were the largest. Bright had seen one in his life. He'd been a Manipular, on a ship with his father. He hadn't known what to do at the time, the Forerunner had been several feet taller than him, and terrifying.

Now, he thought, he'd probably hug a Warrior-servant, just to see another Forerunner. Humming slightly, to distract his thoughts, he walked into the lowest level.

A door closed.

He stopped, startled. The door looked like a wall, he'd never realized it was there before. A Sentinel chirped at him.

"What's behind that door?" he asked.

It stayed silent and flew off.

_They don't answer to me,_ he thought, his eyes narrowed. He walked over and placed his hands on the door. It was cool, the same temperature as the wall, no indication of anything behind it. Not even the sensors in his helmet could detect anything odd. _No wonder I haven't noticed it._

He ran his hands over the surface, letting his fingers fall into the small grooves, designs and symbols. It didn't read anything, just decoration.

"How do you open…" he murmured. His first finger fell into a groove and it lit up. He blinked and followed around the symbol. When he'd traced it, it faded and nothing happened. "Of course, a password doesn't only have one letter…"

He experimented, tracing every symbol he could reach. He found another that lit up near the floor and tried the two in both orders. Nothing.

He looked up at the top of the door. There were symbols up there as well. He cocked his head slightly and activated a seldom used feature of his armor. He lifted a few inches from the ground. Most Lifeworkers preferred this to walking, but he'd always liked to feel the ground beneath his feet. He knew why they did it; to avoid accidentally stepping on something and killing it. They were Lifeworkers, after all. Bright had always just been very careful. He used the grooves in the door, to steady him as he pulled himself up, relieved of gravity. He found the third symbol and traced it, then dropped down to the middle one and finally the bottom one. They all glowed and the door slid open.

He ran inside before it shut again. He looked around and sighed, relieved when he saw a panel to open it from inside. The room was mostly empty, except for slender machinery along the walls. He frowned.

In the middle of the large space was a still pool of water, reflecting patterns of light onto the lower curve of a sphere.

He stared at it. It was large, but not overly. It would probably hold the largest Warrior-servant and not much else with him.

It was solid black and perfectly round.

"What in the name of the Precursors is a Cryptum doing here…?" Bright wondered aloud. He walked closer and a control panel rose from the floor.

He peered at it, trying to quash the hope rising in his chest. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on the controls. Cracks of blue light appeared in the sphere and it rose up, brushing the ceiling. The bottom cracked and lowered down a platform.

Bright's heart was hammering in his ears.

The sides lowered down, exposing…

Nothing.

It was empty.

Bright stared at it and then jerked his hands from the controls. _Of course, why would anyone be in there? _

He stood for a moment, frustrated and at a loss.

_Why is this here… why didn't Sunny tell me about it?_

He narrowed his eyes as the Cryptum sealed up and lowered back down, still not touching the water.

_Should I ask him about it? _he wondered. He decided not to. Sunny had to have a reason for keeping it from him. The Monitor had said he'd told Bright everything about the ring and Monitors didn't just _forget_ details like a Cryptum.

For the next few days, Bright spent his spare time (which was most of the time) in the Cryptum room, watching the lights play on the bottom of the sphere and thinking. It was a wonderful room for meditation. A bit ironic, actually, as Cryptums were a tool for meditation.

He was sitting, legs crossed, staring at the water, but not really seeing it, when the door opened. He turned his head slowly and looked up.

The Monitor projected his hologram and caught his body as it dropped into simulated hands. He only used the hologram occasionally, preferring to stay how he was created.

Bright stood up, his antigrav field going up around his armor with a slight blue shimmer and lifting him off the ground.

"I should have figured you'd find this eventually," Sunny said.

"Yes, but why didn't you tell me about it?"

"It wasn't important. No one is in it, I'm sure you've figured that out," he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Don't act offended," Bright said lowly, "I'm a Lifeworker, we're curious by nature."

"Unfortunately."

"Perhaps. It's done now."

"Why are you down here?"

"Thinking," he said simply. He turned to look at the sphere.

The Monitor watched him, knowing what he was thinking. The fact that he was using the antigrav feature was surprising. Perhaps it was a sign he was maturing. He did look the part of a Lifeworker, his armor perfectly taken care of, which Sunny knew he did himself, to waste time. He looked like a servant of the Librarian.

"Have you ever met her?" he asked, curious.

"The Librarian?" Bright didn't turn back. Everyone knew what 'her' meant. "Yes. She came to my city once. I was a Manipular, only twelve, or so, I think. I was eager to meet her and in my haste I accidentally tripped and fell right into her."

Sunny was unsure whether to laugh or not.

Bright looked at him, smiling, "My family was horrified, of course. I was so embarrassed I was nearly in tears. She didn't mind, though. She pulled me to my feet and came down to my eye level and advised me to be more careful next time."

Sunny smiled. The story was amusing, but he was more happy to see Bright smiling again. As strange as it still was to see a Forerunner face move in such a way, it was relieving. He wasn't completely broken. He transferred back into his body, "I'll leave you to your thoughts, then."

Bright watched the Monitor leave and looked back at the Cryptum.

He dropped back to the ground, continuing gracefully into his lotus pose. He closed his eyes. He'd absolved Sunny's worry, but soon, he was sure he'd just add to it.

He retracted his helmet and curled up on the floor, hoping sleep would calm his mind.

_It's the day everyone has been preparing for. I run after my parents, not wanting to be left behind. My father looks down at me, "Stop grinning," he says. I force the smile from my face and look down. _

_Dark walks next to me. She's a first-form now and no longer able to smile. She might share in my excitement, but I have no idea. She looks at me and her blue eyes sparkle. She's just as excited. _

_I see the crowd and I slip past my father and push my way between legs. Lifeworkers exclaim in surprise and irritation. Someone kicks me. With an undignified yelp, I tumble out into the road, landing face down. Everything falls silent. I can't move. My eyes are shut tight with horror and embarrassment. Heat rises in my cheeks and my throat is tight. _

_"Bright…" Dark whispers, breaking the silence. _

_The silence changes, it's tense now. Someone crouches next to me, their feet touching the ground daintily. A hand on my arm makes me tense. She gently pulls me up to my feet. Crouching, she's at eye level. I open my eyes and they widen. The Librarian. She doesn't look angry. Her eyes twinkle, amused. _

_"I—I… uh…" I stammer, getting more embarrassed by the second. _

_"It's alright, little one, just be more careful next time," she says quietly. The silence loses it's intensity. Now they are just watching in curiousity. _

_I nod quickly several times. _

_"What's your name?" she asks. _

_"B-Bright Star Hidden," I say, haltingly. _

_"Wonderful," she says. She glances over at the crowd, "Is that your family over there?" she is still talking quietly, just for me to hear. I look over and see my parents and sister, watching me, nervous. _

_"Yes," I start to relax now, realizing that I'm not in trouble. _

_She looks back at me. I smile hesitantly. She looks surprised. I drop it. _

_"Hold onto that," she murmurs. "It's special." _

_I smile again. _

_"I see something in you, Bright… something different…" she hands me a small datacard, "Give this to your father. When you are ready, contact me. I think I could use you." _

_I take it, but I'm doubtful, "I don't think so… I'm not very good… I'm clumsy," I say it like it's a secret. _

_"You'll get better. And I'll let you in on a little secret…" _

_"What is it?" _

_She leans close, so no one can see… and smiles. _

"Bright, wake up."

He did, reluctantly.

"You've been asleep for too long," Sunny said.

"I was dreaming," he stood up and stretched. He sighed and looked at Sunny, "You're not going to like this, but I've made my decision. I want to use the Cryptum."

The Monitor was quiet.

Bright watched him for a long moment and then sighed again, "I know—"

"No, I expected this," Sunny said, "and I can't tell you no, but I just want to warn you… it's not made for Lifeworkers. Cryptums are for Warrior-servants. I don't think a Lifeworker's ever used one. I have no idea what it'll do to you."

"I know, but I can't carry on like this. You were built to spend eons alone, studying and observing, but I just can't do it. Even with you as company… it's…"

"Not enough. I know," he let out a small, electronic sigh. "Very well."

Sunny floated over to the controls and zapped them. The Cryptum opened. He looked at Bright and a few of the delicate machines activated. They removed Bright's armor, and he dropped back to the ground, in sparse under armor.

Sunny bobbed slightly, like someone jerking their head. Bright walked over, barefeet padding quietly on the floor. He looked at the platform for a moment, then walked up one of the paths created by the sides of the platform up onto it.

"Get comfortable," Sunny said, with some tense humor.

Bright sat down and crossed his legs, he looked at the Monitor, "Thank you."

"Any particular time you wish to wake up?"

"If a Forerunner… _any_ Forerunner shows up."

Sunny bobbed in a nod, "Happy meditating," he said, tense.

Bright smiled, "Stop worrying. I'll see you again."

(A/N)

Tried to incorporate some Halo 4 stuff in this. Such as the spherical cryptum... I mean, come on... you didn't expect Bright to sit around for 100,000+ years waiting for humans, did you?  
Anyway... the Librarian! And present tense! (and no, I don't know if she can smile, but it seems like she ought to, liking humans as much as she does)  
I was going to leave Bright for a few more chapters, but then I thought, why not just write in his little bit and get him situated in his little timey wimey bubble?  
Am I the only one who noticed that Lifeworkers like to float around? In the Domain terminals, they are the only ones who float. The Didact and the Prometheans all stomp around and the Master Builder just stands there, but I assume he can walk (he's got a cooooool skirt. just sayin)  
And until I draw it, Bright's armor is similar to these guys: images/e/ea/H4_-_ images/6/61/H4_-_  
Except with blue instead of orange... and actual pants... and he doesn't float around a lot.


	6. Not Quite Spartans

(July 3, 2552 – Near Sigma Octanus IV)

_Thwack_

Kaiti jerked her head up at the sharp pain. She looked over and saw Nikki at the next table, looking overly innocent, his hands on some makeshift device he'd thrown together out of boredom.

She narrowed her eyes, smiled, and launched herself over to him, tackling the techie out of his seat and onto the floor.

They wrestled around, the rest of the team watching, amused, except for Alek, who was trying to ignore them.

Kaiti had Nikki pinned down again and he tensed and shoved upwards, throwing her into a chair, it broke with her impact and she slid back into the wall, laughing.

"Ahem."

They looked up and scrambled to their feet, realizing Jansen was standing there, watching.

"As you were," he said and the IIIs dropped their lazy salutes. He glanced at the broken furniture and smirked, "I can see you're all working hard."

"Keeping on our toes, sir," Kaiti said, grinning.

"I'm sure…" he tossed something to her and she snatched it out of the air, hardly a test of her reflexes. "Since you recovered him, I'm assigning Kappa to your team."

Kaiti looked at the AI chip in her hand. Alek looked at the Colonel, "That AI is rampant. We're keeping him?"

Jansen nodded, "You know I'm a scientist at heart," he said, adjusting his glasses. "I'd like to see what happens after rampancy, if anything. If he beats it or wears himself out, we'll know. Maybe we can use this to improve AI life expectancy in the future. Besides, he's only two. It's hardly fair, isn't it?"

Kaiti nodded, "So where do we keep him?"

Kappa's hologram appeared and he looked at Jansen, "Do they have neural implants?"

"No. I suspect the best place for you would be Alek's helmet, but any of them would work, if he doesn't want you."

Alek looked at the AI, "I'll take him."

Jansen nodded, "From his helmet you'll be able to access all of their interconnected systems. Not quite what you had with Jake, but close enough."

Kappa nodded.

Jansen bid them all good day and left.

"Hey, now you'll be able to watch us fight," Kaiti said to the AI, sitting down and setting his chip on the table.

"If it's anything similar to what I just saw, I think I'll be regretting this," he said, only half joking.

Kaiti frowned, "We were just playing around—"

"_Playing_?" he asked.

"Sure. Don't IIs ever mess around for fun?"

"Not… really…"

Kaiti sighed, "How boring. Then again, I can't imagine Master Chief doing anything for fun."

"Nor can I…" Kappa said.

Kaiti laughed, "Well, I'm sure you'll find it much more fun being with IIIs, no offense to your last guy."

"He's dead."

"Oh… sorry," she said awkwardly. She cleared her throat and changed the subject, "So, do you remember who everyone is?"

"Yes," he said, going with it. "I'm not _that_ rampant yet."

She smiled, "Okay, well…"

"You're all orphans?"

"Uh, yeah. Jansen told you that, I assume?"

"Yes. Where are you from?"

"America. Jay and I both are, obviously. Uh… Nik and Alek are from New Harmony… Flinn's from Australia, but I bet you could tell that. Symon's French, but it's hard to tell… mostly because he never talks. Sidni's from Mars."

"Hm. I'm from London."

She grinned, "I can tell."

"The person I was copied from, anyway."

"Copied?" she narrowed her eyes, confused. "Like… cloned?"

"Sort of. Very few of us are made like that, but he volunteered."

"Oh—"

"Did you say you were copied from someone?" Nikki asked, leaning on the table. Kaiti wasn't sure when he'd got there. His eyes were shining the way they always did when he wanted to learn.

Kaiti stood up, nodding to them both and then walking over to Alek. She grinned, "We've gotta keep him now, Nikki has somebody to talk to."

Alek smiled, "I'm not going to complain about being given the help… I just hope he's there when we need him to be."

"We've always managed before. If he starts having a fit, we'll just ignore him."

Alek nodded, watching the AI, "I wonder how he got that Seraph, anyway…"

"I don't know. I asked, but he didn't say."

Alek narrowed his eyes, thinking, "He can't have stolen it alone, he's an AI. He could've piloted it once he was inside, but someone had to put him there… you don't think there were Humans?"

Kaiti bit her bottom lip, thinking, "I wouldn't think so. Unless they were on the Corvette and knew they weren't getting out so they just got the AI out."

"Which would have been the right thing to do, but since when does the Covenant take prisoners?"

"Never."

Jaylin wandered over, "You guys look super serious. What's up?"

"Just wondering how Kappa ended up in a Seraph…"

Jay shrugged, "He'll tell us eventually."

"Maybe…"

(The next day)

Kaiti glanced at the date readout in her helmet. It was on Earth time. She always had her main calendar on Earth time and a secondary one to synch with the team.

They were heading back down to the planet. It hadn't been long, but the defenses seemed to be holding and the Covenant wasn't making much headway. They were investigating some rumors. Jansen had set aside the easier mission for them to try out working with an AI.

Even so, Kaiti felt a little slighted. She knew there were plenty of other Spartan teams to fight, but she didn't like being given the easy job when people were dying.

They landed and she was jerked out of her thoughts.

Alek led them out. It was dark. Kaiti's nightvision flicked on to compensate.

"Alright," Alek said, "I know you're all disappointed, but this is going to be a routine scouting job."

"What if we do find some covvies?" Sidni asked.

There was an amused smirk in Alek's voice, "Then you can have some fun."

Kaiti grinned behind her mask and walked next to Alek as they headed out.

"How you holdin' up, K?" she asked.

"Oh, fine," the AI replied. "This armor is incredible. Not as powerful as Mjolnir…"

She rolled her eyes, smiling, "Yeah, yeah, we're not as good as IIs."

He appeared in her HUD and grinned, "I never said that, but no, you're not."

She smacked the side of her helmet and he vanished, "Jerk."

Alek turned and looked at her, "Something wrong?"

"What? No, sorry, I was talking to K."

"Ah, well that won't help, as he's in my helmet."

"Don't give me any ideas."

"Like you needed help."

She grinned and looked back ahead. They were coming to a break in the trees and the edge of a small town. It was abandoned now, had been for a while.

Alek held up his fist and they all stopped at the edge of the trees. It was nighttime and Kaiti could hardly make out her own black armor. This was why they were Shadow Team. They were made for stealth and night missions.

"Alright," Alek said, his voice sounded in all their helmets, but Kaiti knew it was making no noise outside. "This is our factory. We're looking for weapons."

"Are the citizens helping the Covenant?" Jaylin asked, puzzled.

"Some."

"I'm surprised the covvies'd work with humans," Flinn said.

"Most of them don't," Kappa cut in. "It's the Kig'yar, or Jackals, as you lot call them. They'll trade with anyone. The Covenant doesn't even trust them. The only reason they use them is because they're good snipers and proficient in numbers."

"That answers that," Alek said. "Symon."

The sniper looked up and Alek jerked his head toward the building. Sy nodded and vanished from view.

"Ooh," Kappa couldn't help the outburst.

Kaiti snickered as Symon headed off.

"Shut up, you. What is that?"

"Active camo. It was adopted from Sangheili tech," Nikki replied.

"See? We're not terribly useless," Sidni said, slightly pointedly.

"All clear," Symon's voice came over the radio.

"Right, stop talking," Alek said, "and come on."

He led them forward and they split up into teams at the door, "Symon's already inside, so Kaiti, you're with me, Jaylin and Flinn, Sidni and Nikolai."

They nodded and entered, splitting off in different directions, scoping out the place for weapons. It was clean at first glance. The factory floor was abandoned and empty. Kaiti and Alek headed off along the wall to the left, looking around with all filters.

Her HUD fritzed and changed views. Judging by Alek's quiet curse, his had to. They stopped.

"Everyone else see that?" Jaylin asked.

"Yeah… What do you think, Nikki?"

"Some sort of electrical interference—"

"Close," K said. "Sorry, but it was me. Your scanners are a bit lacking, so I just boosted them a bit. You can see a few more areas of the spectrum now."

"Thanks… warn us next time," Alek said.

"Ooh!" Kaiti exclaimed, very un-Spartan like. She took off at a dead sprint, leaving Alek behind. He chased after her and grabbed her arm just as she activated a hidden panel in the floor.

She fell and was ripped out of his grasp. She hit the floor with a loud thud, her head bouncing off the concrete, and got up. She looked up through a fuzzy HUD, the door wasn't impossibly far away. She could probably jump to Alek's hand if he held it down. He was crouching, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I saw a hot spot… didn't realize it would vanish under my feet."

"Just don't run off next time. I thought you knew better than that."

She shrugged, "It's done. Help me up."

He held his hand down and she crouched in preperation to spring up. She froze at a growl and turned sideways, pulling out her pistol.

Alek pulled his hand up, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure… my HUD must be screwed up from the fall, all I've got is darkness."

"You…" Kappa's hologram appeared next to Kaiti, lighting up the room she was in.

She found herself face mask to jaws with an Elite, "Oh… hello…" she said slowly, mildly startled. Her pistol was against his chest by chance. He seemed to have noticed her malfunctioning helmet and had snuck up while she was blind.

Now he was looking at Kappa. The little AI flickered slightly and garbled something in Sangheili. Kaiti watched him, trying to judge the Elite's reaction.

He chuffed, it might have been a laugh and turned his head to the left. Kaiti instinctively followed his gaze and looked at the crates of Covenant weapons.

"I found our supply, Alek…" she said.

"Yeah. I see that. I also see the slipspace bombs…"

"Oh…"

"They don't seem to be armed… just neutralize that Elite and I'll get you up."

"Why don't you just shoot him?" she asked. Kappa was keeping the thing busy with chatter.

"If I pull my gun, he'll see it. Besides, yours is right against some organ, I'm sure."

She smirked, "Right."

Kappa looked at her, "You really are awful soldiers if all you've got right now is chit chat."

She glared at him and pulled the trigger. The Elite roared in pain and grabbed her. Kappa vanished and they were plunged into darkness again. Not for long when lights started coming up all along the crates.

"Shit," Alek said. "They've been remotely activated. Someone noticed us."

Kaiti was wrestling with the Elite and didn't reply for a moment, then choked out, "Get out then."

"Not without you," Alek said, pulling his gun out.

The crates started beeping. The Elite had Kaiti backed up to the far side of the room and he couldn't get a clear shot.

"Alek, just go!" she snapped, swinging a punch at the Elite's jaws. "I'll be okay!"

"No you won't!"

"Fine, so get out before we're all dead!" she shouted, her voice raised in fear and frustration.

Alek hesitated, then shook his head and stood up. The beeping sped up.

"EVERYONE OUT!" he shouted over the radio. He looked back, "It's been an honor lieutenant."

"Likewise, commander," she said, pulling her helmet off as he left. She threw it down, it was just annoying her now while her HUD was reconfiguring itself. She glared at the Elite, "Alright, buddy, we're both gonna die."

He growled at her.

Kaiti smiled, "Yeah, I know," she glanced at the crates. "Too late to form a cease fire for the moment…" she sighed.

He sensed her change and backed up a step, glancing at the crates as well. His eyes were teal and they showed real fear.

Kaiti backed away into the corner, knowing the Elite was no problem now. She grabbed her helmet and shoved it on and tucked up into a ball. She heard the blast, quickly swallowed up by the silence of slipspace. As her molecules started to pull apart, she slipped into unconsciousness and her last thought was hope that the rest of the team made it to a safe distance.

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure this made sense. The next chapter won't either if this one didn't XD Whatever. Slipspace bombs... I dunno. Man I love IIIs. They're just so full of crazy. Like, if you cut them open, they'd just be all full of crazy, just like how Jul is all full of hatred... (inside joke)  
I'm kind of tired, if you can't tell XD  
Moar Forerunners coming soon! Because I love Forerunners. And they're what this story is all about and this story isn't going to be very long anyway. Like 10 chapters maybe.


	7. Seven Minus One

(_Leeward_, 0200 hrs)

The Spartans were back on board, but Jansen hadn't gotten word from any of them. He walked into the mess hall and saw Alek. He was the only one in there, staring somewhat forlornly into a cup of coffee.

That was one word Jansen never thought he'd use to describe a Spartan. He walked over and Alek just glanced up at him. He didn't move to stand at attention or even try to salute. Something was extremely wrong.

Jansen sat down.

"Sorry I didn't sitrep sir," Alek said.

"No worries. What's wrong?"

Alek looked at him, his stormy eyes troubled. His accent was heavier than usual, indicating how upset he was, "We found the weapons, but they're gone. As well as the entire factory and probably some of the surrounding trees…"

"What happened?"

"Slipspace bombs. They were strapped to the crates and someone noticed us and set them off."

"Lucky you all got out in time."

Alek didn't say a word.

Jansen stared at him, "Damnit…" he breathed.

"Kaiti got stuck with an Elite… I couldn't get her out in time…"

Jansen was quiet for a long moment, "I'm sorry."

Alek didn't reply.

Jansen stood up, "Where are the others?"

"Dealing with it. I haven't seen Jay in a few hours… Sid is with her I think… Flinn and Nikki buried themselves in research… I have no idea where Symon is…"

Jansen nodded, "Well… take care of yourselves."

Alek nodded, "It took quite a toll on the AI."

Jansen paused. He hadn't expected that. "Keep an eye on him."

Alek nodded and the colonel left. "Kappa," Alek said.

The AI flickered into existence. He was dimmer than usual.

Alek looked at him, somewhat stern, "You recognized that Elite."

Kappa blinked and sighed, "Now's a good a time as any, I suppose. Yes, I knew that Elite. He helped me escape when I was a prisoner. He was the one who killed Jake and when the new Ship Master exposed his female friend they both got exiled and they took me with them. The ship shot us down and I told them to bugger off before you lot came and shot them," he said it all rather quickly.

"Oh…" Alek was quiet for a long moment. "Do you think—"

"No. I'm sorry. I know what you were going to ask. There's no way she survived. That armor isn't rated for slipspace and even if she did, that many portals pulling on her at once… she'd be ripped to pieces… and even if she survived that somehow in one piece… there's no telling where she'd be."

* * *

Jansen sat in his office, staring at the computer, but not actually doing any work. He sighed and continued typing his report.

_Spartan-281 MIA, caught in slipspace blast. _

He stopped again. It wasn't quite fair. He knew he shouldn't be thinking in terms of fairness, this was war, after all, and despite the old saying, all was not fair in war.

But the Spartan hadn't even died in battle. Not that it mattered. No one found out about Spartan III deaths. No one even really found out about Spartan II deaths. The IIIs were cannon fodder, they were smaller, weaker, and more mentally unstable than the IIs. They weren't supposed to live.

But it wasn't fair. She'd only been 18. They were all just barely adults. Symon was the youngest of the team, only 16.

Jansen wished for a moment he was back working with IIs. They handled everything in stride. They grieved in their own, quiet, Spartan way and carried on with what was important. He shook that thought away. He shouldn't be wishing he had the easy route. The IIIs were worse at handling loss, but that was to be expected. Their brains had been tampered with. They were hate filled little killers, but they were his and at the moment he felt a bit like a father.

He stood up, not sure what he was going to do. He left his office, just walking the halls of _Leeward_, looking for the Spartans.

He met an ODST and the seargent backed off, saluting. Jansen saluted back, "Hey, staff, have you seen any of the Spartans?"

He thought about it. Jansen knew he really didn't care what happened to them, Spartans and ODSTs had never gotten along, but ODSTs really didn't know how to lie.

"Yeah, a while ago. Two girls, headed toward the gym. Didn't look to good."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Have to say though, I've never seen one cry. I couldn't tell if she was sad or pissed. Something happen on the surface I should know about? We're dropping tomorrow, need I remind you."

"You don't need to, but yes, I suppose you should know. A slipspace bomb went off and took one of the Spartans and an Elite with it."

"Oh," he looked surprised. Then, to Jansen's mild surprise, he looked sympathetic, "It's always hard to lose a mate."

"Her sister," Jansen said.

The ODST raised his eyebrows and exhaled, "Well, you have fun tryin' not to get your head knocked off," he walked off.

Jansen looked after him and shook his head slightly and then continued toward the gym. He had no idea what to say to the girl. He opened the door.

Sidni was leaning on the wall, rolling a container of pills between her fingers. The Martian looked over as Jansen stepped in.

"You're gonna want to stay away from her," Sidni said. She nodded across the room. Jaylin was sparring with a drone, her face contorted in anger.

Jansen watched for a moment. He glanced at the bottle in Sidni's hands.

"She won't take them and she won't calm down enough for me to shove one down her throat," she said. He was unsure if she was joking or not.

"She knows she needs them."

"She wants the anger," Sidni said. "I think if you shipped her out right now she could finish the war for us."

Jansen smiled. Now he knew she was joking. Sidni was that kind of person, the kind who laughed off sadness. She and Flinn seemed to share that trait.

"Do you think you're ready to go back tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes."

He was startled by the voice and turned to see Jaylin looking at him. She was standing with her fists clenched at her sides.

"Now. I'm ready now."

"I'm not sure the others are—"

"If I'm ready, they are," she said.

Jansen sighed, "Suit up. I'll go talk to Alek."

(On the surface, 0300 hrs)

Ryn paced. She felt like crying, but she wasn't going to.

"Alright," she said. "You're the idiot who caused all this. You're not just going to sit down and die. Imra would expect better of you," she told herself. She halted, "But what's better now? Stay alive or kill myself? At least Imra doesn't have to worry about that anymore…"

She looked up as she heard the distinctive whir of a Seraph.

It landed nearby and she hesitated, unsure what to do. She was exiled, so she'd be shot on sight. She fidgeted and heard someone coming from the other direction.

She turned around just in time to see demons come running into the clearing. They halted at the sight of her. She fumbled with her sword and activated it. She wasn't going to die here, that was for sure. These demons were smaller than the one Imra had killed. She was sure she could handle one.

That was until one screamed and rammed into her, taking them both to the ground.

"Jay!" Alek exclaimed, startled. The Spartan was making feral noises, struggling with the Elite.

The bushes rustled and a small company of Elites and a few Grunts came into the clearing as well. Jaylin didn't take notice.

"I know them!" Kappa exclaimed at the same time that a Zealot barreled into Jaylin and knocked her off of the other Elite, both of them tumbling away.

The SpecOps elite scrambled up and backed away, leaving it's sword where it was. It looked oddly small and slim.

The Zealot got up. The Elites and Spartans were both just watching, equally startled and confused.

He barked something at Jaylin. Another Elite stepped forward, gestured at the SpecOps and snarled. The Zealot froze. Alek decided to act and started shooting.

The other Elites jumped into action as well. One of them grabbed the Zealot and dragged him out of the fray. Alek downed a Minor and watched with interest as the Zealot's armor was marred and he was kicked away.

The other two Elites were dead with the Grunts.

"Hold those two," Alek ordered. Jaylin walked over and punched the Zealot in the midsection and then grabbed his hands and wrenched him down violently. The other one just put it's hands in the air and lowered itself down, clearly terrified.

The Elite across the clearing looked around, barked something at the two and then loped off.

The Zealot shouted something after him and then fell into silence.

Ryn looked at Sha, "What are you doing here?"

Sha glared at her, "Apparently joining you. What were you thinking getting yourself caught like that?"

"I didn't know they were there. I don't… I shouldn't be here. I should've listened to Imra, I'm not cut out for this."

Sha exhaled sharply, "Exactly. Where is that idiot, anyway? He left you alone with demons around?"

"He's dead."

Sha was quiet for a moment, "How?"

"Slipspace bomb," she said. "We were hiding nearby in a human structure. I was looking for food. I'm not sure what happened but I heard it go off and when I came back, the entire place was gone—" a demon smacked the back of her head and she yelped, quieting.

Alek looked at the two Elites, "Kappa, you speak Sangheili. Be a translator, would you?"

The AI appeared and the black armored Elite started, surprised.

The Zealot looked at it, not surprised in the least.

The AI spoke in Sangheili, but Alek could hear the English translation as well.

"I'm surprised at you, 'Saralkee. Aren't you the one who got them both exiled in the first place?"

The Zealot growled and then snorted and replied, "I never had anything against her, besides the fact that she spit on our culture," he said it pointedly and looked at the other Elite.

She ducked her head.

Kappa shrugged, "If she hadn't already, I'd be pleased to tell you 'Roramee's dead."

"He was an annoyance," Sha said.

"He was your Fleet Master!" Ryn exploded, rounding on him, teeth bared.

Sha stared at her, startled. He regained his composure, "True. And then he let you on the ship."

"He didn't let me on. I snuck on and he let me stay."

"Oh. Good for you," he said sarcastically, "you've managed to shame everyone you've talked to."

"Pipe down, you two," Alek said. His voice was translated into Sangheili and they looked at him. "If I understand right, you're both exiles. And now you're prisoners. We're not going to kill you, but don't try to escape."

Sha looked like he was thinking about it.

"As Imra used to say," Ryn said, interrupting his thoughts, "dying in battle is one thing, but living to fight another day is more honorable."

"That worked out so well for him," Sha growled as he was pulled to his feet.

Ryn closed her eyes for a moment and stood up, not replying. They were both quiet as they were forced into cuffs and onto a Pelican.

Alek radioed Jansen and Kappa didn't translate, "Send a security detail to the docking bay. We've got two live Sangheili. One is cooperative, the other… not so much…"

* * *

A/N: This one is short, sorry.  
Oh look, it's Sha. If anyone is confused, he just got exiled for helping Ryn.


	8. English Tutor

(Installation 06, control room)

Sunny perked up slightly at the alert and instantly started to interfere. He diverted the large burst of power and a slipspace rift opened above a section of the Halo. It closed quickly.

"Hm. Strange. I wonder where that came from…" he traced it back to its source. The readings were all over the place, but it was very far away.

He accessed his teleportation grid and appeared down where the rift had opened. It was a mess.

"This will be fun to clean up…" he sighed and floated around, scanning the debris. "Oh… well now, this is interesting…"

He moved a few pieces of debris off the creature and looked at it. It was curled up, unconscious, but not dead. He searched his database. The most likely place of origin was Sanga IV.

"Curious. I wonder if he knows how close to home he is… then again… what was he doing so far away? What can I say, though? Forerunners were never really home."

He moved on. The creature would be fine once it awoke.

"Oh… now this… this is much more interesting…" he lowered down and looked at the other alien. It was wearing armor. So similar to ancient Forerunner designs and those of the ancient Humans. He ran a few scans and they penetrated the armor easily. It was Human, a young female, and injured. Her breathing and heartrate were up though she was unconscious. She was healing though. He suspected her brain would keep her asleep until she was healthy. The armor seemed to be helping as best it could. Nowhere near Forerunner capability, but it was trying. He decided to leave her be and see if she lived, and vanished again.

(The next day, Earth time)

Her eyes opened slowly and it took her a moment to focus on her heads-up. It was still functioning somehow.

_Wait a minute… wasn't I dying? If this is the afterlife, it sucks. I feel like I was hit by a Pelican…_

She clenched her fist and slowly pushed herself up. Instantly, she pulled her helmet off and threw up, blood splattering on the ground.

_Oh, that's safe…_ She sat all the way up and looked around. It was dark. She could see a sun… no… three bright enough to be suns… but it was like night. They looked forcibly dimmed. She didn't recognize any constellations, but maybe her brain was just foggy.

She took a deep breath and stood up.

_How the hell did I survive this?_ She wondered, looking around. _There's no way this armor is rated for slipspace… on the other hand… I doubt his is either…_

She stared at the Sangheili. He looked to have woken up just shortly before her and was standing also.

He had violet blood all down his side and was favoring one leg. He was looking at the sky.

"Hey," she said.

He turned his head and looked at her.

She held her hands up, "I'm not going to hurt you."

He garbled something and looked back at the sky. She walked over hesitantly. He tensed and she stopped. He looked at her again.

It might have been that she was still jumbled from the trip, but she decided he was her ticket out of here. She patted her chest, "Kaiti."

He stared at her a moment, then realized what she was doing and said her name slowly. He made the 't' in his throat instead of with his tongue, so it sounded more like 'Kai'i', but it was close enough. She nodded.

He put a hand to his own chest, "Imra."

"Imra," she said. It was nice, unlike other Sangheili words she'd heard, there wasn't a lot of unecessary noise.

He seemed suitably impressed and pointed to the sky. She followed his gaze to a blue dot.

"Bai'a," he said.

She cocked her head, confused.

He sighed, "Sanghelios."

She knew that one and her eyes widened. They were in his system. She pointed too, "Sanghelios?"

He nodded, "Bai'a."

She realized he was trying to teach her something. She blinked. That was a surprise. He wasn't just trying to tell her that that was his home, he was trying to teach her words.

_Home._

She looked at him and patted her chest, "Bai'a… Earth?"

He thought about it and nodded.

"Home," she said. "Home, Earth," she gestured to him, "home, Sanghelios."

"Home…" he said uncertainly.

She nodded and they both seemed to realize at the same time what was going on. Imra suddenly tensed and she backed away a few steps, wary.

It was silent for a moment and she pulled her pistol off her belt, unsure how it was still there. She dropped it on the ground, "Truce."

Imra thought about it for a moment, then nodded, "Abaya."

She picked her gun up and he narrowed his eyes. She gestured to his sword, "If you get to keep that, I'm keeping my gun."

(The next day, Sanghelios time)

Imra watched the demon, curious. She'd been tagging along after him, trying to engage him in conversation. So far they could exchange very few words.

She was a horrible Sangheili speaker and he was just as bad at English.

It was daylight, but he suspected the days were irregular here, as the sky just seemed to depolarize when it felt like it. He knew exactly where they were. The Halo ring near his system. He could see his stars, and, more painfully, he could see his planet.

Kaiti was eating something from her hip pouch. She pulled a face and put it away. He was always slightly amused and disturbed by the range of Human facial expressions. They could contort their muscles in so many ways. It was difficult to tell sometimes if they were smiling or baring their sad excuses for fangs.

She looked at him now and smiled, "Where are we?" she said. He understood her noises, but the words meant nothing to him. She seemed to understand his silence and gestured all around, her finger tracing the ring in the air, "What?"

"Halo," he said.

She seemed surprised, "Halo?"

He nodded. She seemed to know exactly what that was. How odd. Perhaps they shared words from the Forerunner days.

"Forerunner," he said, testing it.

She nodded, "Yeah."

He knew 'yeah' was an assent. She bit her lip in that way that said she was thinking. "Go. Leave," she said, pointing at the sky. "Home. Bai'a."

She wanted to know how to get home.

_Ah, that explains why she's so friendly. She knows I know more about the Forerunners than she does and she thinks I can get her home. Humans certainly are devious._

He lifted his shoulders in a Human gesture she would understand, then pointed up the hill, "Perhaps a control building?" he suggested. "An Oracle?"

She perked up at the word 'oracle', "Oracle… Monitor?"

He hesitated and she pulled a cracked datapad out of her pouch and drew something on it and handed it over. He took it, still somewhat wary being so close to her. She had drawn a rough sketch of an Oracle. He nodded, then got distracted by the datapad itself. It was beat up from her rough landing and the backlight was failing.

He pulled his own out. It hadn't been broken. For the Humans' technology looking so much sturdier, it was much more delicate.

She put hers away and held her hand out in a 'may I?' gesture. He hesitated and then remembered she couldn't read Sangheili, so she couldn't extract any information anyway. He gave it to her.

Her hands were too small to use any of his technology efficiently, but she made short work of it. She pulled her stylus out and wrote things on it in blocky Human letters. He leaned over to watch.

She pointed at each word, "Bai'a," she said, "means Home," she pointed in turn from the first word, to the symbol in the middle, two lines above each other, to the last word. "Oracle means Monitor."

He suddenly understood what she was doing. She was trying to build a translating dictionary. He frowned at the Human letters and tried to understand where the sounds were coming from. Their writing varied so much, he was unsure how they all read it.

Kaiti thought about it for a moment, then wrote down one letter, "A," she said, "ah."

He stared at her, astonished. She was teaching him to read her language. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted.

After a moment, he imitated her noises. She nodded and wrote another letter, "B, buh…"

Kaiti laid back and looked at the sky. It was "night" again, though her HUD read 1500 Earth time. She only wore her helmet at night now, clipping it on her belt otherwise. She trusted Imra when he was in her sight during the day, but at night, she felt safer sleeping with a pistol in her hands and her armor complete.

She looked over. The Elite was sprawled out on his side like a big cat, seemingly asleep. She was used to his weird reptilian looks by now. She didn't think she could look at them the same again. He was very different. The others she'd happened to encounter had tried to shoot her at first sight. He not only hadn't shot her, he trusted her, or at least she thought he did. And he was trying to learn English. He was really doing pretty well, having a Spartan for a teacher anyway. They'd been here about three days now, by the ring's time, about a week Earth time. Imra knew a lot of words now and he could read pretty fluently even if he didn't know what he was reading. Kaiti had learned about as much Sangheili. He seemed determined to not have his language overridden by English. There were a lot of noises she couldn't make, but she tried her best. At one point, she was sure Imra had called her language skills 'worse than infantile', but that was just judging by his laughter and her hearing the words for child and bad.

She sighed and curled up on her side, leaving her pistol in its holster. She folded her arms under her head for a pillow and closed her eyes.

They'd been walking and camping for two Sangheili weeks now. Both of them could pretty well understand each other now, no matter which language was being spoken. Imra still thought Kaiti sounded like a child. She had trouble mimicking some of the most simple noises. He thought her throat must have been arranged differently. Likewise, he had trouble with certain letters of her alphabet. 'T's and 'p's especially.

Right now, Kaiti was reading aloud from a book he had stored on his datapad. Occassionally he would interrupt to fix her pronunciation as much as he could, or she would stop and ask the meaning of a word. She'd grasped his grammar much better than he'd grasped hers. English seemed to make absolutely no sense. In fact, she'd agreed with him on that idea.

"_You… are right. English is a stupid language… and none of its rules make sense."_

That had been the longest sentence she'd ever said in Sangheili and she'd wanted to celebrate. Imra told her she could celebrate when they found the Oracle.

She had made another extraordinary Human face at him and sighed. He chuffed in amusement at the memory. Kaiti stopped reading and looked at him, "Are you laughing at me?"

"Why would I do that?"

She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly in a thinking, mock suspicious face, "Hard to tell when you are joking."

He tilted his head in a shrug. She smiled and went back to her reading.

Kaiti glanced at her clock and then clipped her helmet back on her belt. She wished she had an eyepiece like she'd seen some Marines with. They'd been here for about a month now, Earth time. She was by herself at the moment, up a tree, gaining a vantage point as well as looking for fruit. She found herself, without the distraction of Imra, thinking about Shadow Team.

She hoped they weren't grieving about her. She hoped they'd made it out of the blast area okay. There was no way to contact them here.

Maybe when they got off the Halo and to Sanghelios… That was the rough plan, as of now. Get to the control tower, find the Monitor, get it to get them a ship, and get to Sanghelios. Imra seemed to think the Oracle would listen to her. He kept saying that the Forerunners called Humans 'Reclaimers'. He didn't know a lot about Forerunner history, but what Sangheili had dechiphered through ruins seemed to suggest a weird love-hate relationship with the Humans. Kaiti didn't think that was possible. She knew Earth's history, she thought, and it didn't involve any of that.

She made a mental note to ask a Forerunner about it if she ever found one. Then she laughed. She must be hungry. She gathered up some fruit and dropped to the ground.

"Imra!" she called, heading up out of the forest to the adjacent prairie.

The Elite was standing atop a hill. He turned back and looked at her, "Come look!" he called. They were having an English day.

She ran up the hill and looked down at an impressive Forerunner structure. It was far down in a valley, which explained why she hadn't seen it from her tree.

"It's… beautiful…" she said.

"Got to be a control room," he said, sure of himself.

"Looks big enough to have a ship in it. We don't even need a slipspace capable one," she said. "Well, we can head down there in a bit, looks like it'll take a few days to get there. Right now, I'm starving."

He nodded and they sat down, dividing up the fruit. They'd both become vegetarians since living here. Kaiti had seen wildlife, but she didn't want to waste the ammo. It was just easier to live like this.

"So… what do we do after we get to Sanghelios? I'll be killed instantly there."

Imra thought about it, "My keep is… back country. Plenty of room to hide. Hopefully word has not spread of this," he tapped the Mark of Shame on his chest plate, "and I can… get new armor and a ship. If it has… we can always steal one."

He didn't sound excited. Kaiti could slightly understand being such an outcast. Being a Spartan III, she wasn't even known about in society and she wouldn't be welcome.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," she said, deciding to distract him. She pulled out her data pad and turned it on, "Here, this is good practice."

He took it and looked it over, "What is this? There are many words you do not use."

"Yeah. It's old. It's called the Bible. It's where one of our religions comes from."

"One of?"

"Oh yeah. Humans have tons of different religions… we can never decide on one."

"This one… is yours?"

"No… I don't have one. Never saw the point," she smiled. "That and I kill something almost every day. Most gods frown upon constant murder."

He thought about that for a moment.

"Why did you start this war?" Kaiti asked. It was one of those questions that couldn't be avoided.

Imra opened his mouth to reply and stopped, puzzled. He tilted his head in a Sangheili shrug, "I was born into the war. I was told who to fight, not why."

"Oh. That's sort of how it was with me too," she thought about it for a moment. "I guess it's good we're here. Otherwise we would've never realized that."

He nodded, "Senseless death."

She stood up, "Well, we might as well head on. You can read on the way."

He got up as well. Kaiti took a step forward and was engulfed in golden light and vanished.

She hit the floor and scrambled up, heart pounding. She shoved her helmet on and pulled her pistol. She was inside a dimly lit room. A golden glow floated up and she recognized the shape of a Monitor.

"Hello Reclaimer. Welcome to Installation 06. My name is 182 Silent Sun and you have been chosen."

* * *

A/N: This chapter makes no sense. Whatever. This entire story makes no sense XD

Aaaanyway... yay! Allies!

This was mostly a filler chapter.

Sunny's just trying to be impressive there at the end...


End file.
